Genres and textures combine in this Scandinavian summer solstice celebration: the ardent Hardanger fiddle, Norway’s Barokkanerne orchestra, Lully and Marais, the Finnish Baroque Orchestra, lovingly performing a Handel cantata and some Nordic tunes.
Works by Haendel, Nagaraja, Roman, Tiensuu, Lully, Marais and Scandinavian traditional music.
40 $ - regular, 35 $ - 65 years and older, 15 $ - students
Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel (metro Champ-de-Mars)
400 Saint-Paul East Street
Montreal QC
Canada
Solstice
Image: Les charmes de la vie champêtre, by François Boucher
Meeri Pulakka, soprano
Barokkanerne
Ragnhild Hemsing, Hardanger violin
Kinga Ujszászi and Karolina Radziej, violin
Mari Giske, viola
Gunnar Hauge, cello
Gunnhild Tønder, contrabass
Jadran Duncumb, lute
with Reuven Rothman, contrabass
Finnish Baroque Orchestra
Anthony Marini and Kaisa Ruotsalainen, violin
Tuula Riisalo, viola
Tatu Ahola, cello
Anna-Maaria Oramo, harpsichord
Symphonie du sommeil, from Alcyone, Acte III
“Spring,” Concerto in E major, op. 8, no. 1
Allegro - Largo - Allegro
Fantasy for Hardanger violin and Baroque orchestra
Sonata Decima
Capriccio (arr. Jadran Duncumb)
Baletto secondo (with Hardanger violin solo)
Entrata grave
Balletto Allegro
Gagliarda e corrente
Forlane en rondeau, Concert royal no. 4
Balletto secondo (suite)
Retirata - Passacalio
“Winter,” Concerto in F minor, op. 8, no. 4
Allegro non molto - Largo - Allegro
ENTRACTE
A Finnish Suite (extraits)
Ouverture - Fugue - Lentement
Polonaise
Karhunpeijaispolska (Kengis Bear Polka)
Cantate Tu fedel? Tu costante? HWV 171
Sonata - Recitative - Aria - Recitative - Aria -
Recitative - Aria - Recitative - Aria
Love songs from the North
Aamulla varhain
Björkö-polska
Two Dances
Tuon pohjolan poikasen lempi
Kevätyhtiön polska
Cantata Piante amiche RO 83
Aria (Andante largo) - Recitative - Aria (Allegro)
Concerto grosso after Sonata op. 5, no. 12, “La Follia”
Genres and textures combine in this Scandinavian summer solstice celebration: the ardent Hardanger fiddle, Norway’s Barokkanerne orchestra, Lully and Marais, and the Finnish Baroque Orchestra, lovingly performing a Handel cantata and some Nordic tunes.
Vivaldi's Four Seasons from 1723 is among the most famous and performed works in music history. How do Vivaldi's famous seasons sound when played on the Hardanger fiddle, filtered through the folk music tradition from Valdres in Norway? We get an answer to this musical question through the musical collaboration of Ragnhild Hemsing and Barokkanerne.
The Hardanger fiddle tradition in Valdres, with its many embellishments, trills, ornaments and beautiful melodies, can be united with the Baroque tradition of Vivaldi through the most important thing in this music, namely the rhythmic impulse – the swing. The rhythmic impulse is equally important in both styles of music, while the shift from violin to Hardanger fiddle provides a golden opportunity to reinterpret this classic music. By giving Vivaldi's classical violin concertos a personal touch and elements of improvisation, Ragnhild's aim as a soloist is to blend together both Baroque and folk music elements. Ragnhild Hemsing has her feet planted in both classical music and the Hardanger fiddle tradition from Valdres. To further reflect the Baroque and folk music tradition, we will also perform a specially commissioned work by the Norwegian composer Agnes Ida Pettersen for hardinger fiddle and Baroque ensemble. Combined with a collection of dance movements from 16th- to 18th-century Italy and France, we believe this to be a unique concert experience.
Meeri Pulakka, soprano
Soprano Meeri Pulakka’s versatile talent spans from early to contemporary music, and she is equally at home both on the operatic stage as well as in chamber music settings. Pulakka has appeared as soloist with the Avanti! Chamber Orchestra, the Finnish Baroque Orchestra (FiBO), Barocco Boreale, the Finnish Chamber Orchestra, the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra, and Uusinta Ensemble, working with conductors such as Juha Kangas, Sakari Oramo and Jukka-Pekka Saraste. Her operatic roles include Vitellia in W. A. Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito, Cleopatra in G. F. Händel’s Giulio Cesare, Madame Euterpova in G. C. Menotti’s Help! Help! The Globolinks! and Hebe in J-P Rameau’s Les Indes Galantes, among others.
Meeri Pulakka is in especially high demand as a performer and premierer of contemporary music, owing to her notably musical and precise work that stems from extensive violin and singing studies started at an early age by the ’Finnish folk music capital’ of Kaustinen. In her debut concert at the Young Artists of the Winter concert series (Helsinki Music Centre, 2019) she performed works by Jarkko Hartikainen, György Kurtág, Enno Poppe, Philippe Leroux and Erik Bergman. Pulakka’s other engagements with the music of our time include the role of Girl in Riikka Talvitie’s radio opera Queen of the Cold Land (premiered in 2017), Luciano Berio’s Sequenza III and Luigi Nono’s La fabbrica illuminata (Kallio New Music Days), Kaija Saariaho’s Lonh, Enno Poppe’s Wespe, Outi Tarkiainen’s Into the Woodland Silence (UML festival Oulu), Minna Leinonen’s Shom (Brücken festival), Olli Kortekangas’ One Night Stand (role of Kami, 2011), concert at the Villa Lante in Rome (Nuovi Spazi Musicali), Sebastian Hilli’s Arachne (New Music Theatre / Showcase 2016 Pietarsaari) as well as her enthusiastic work bringing young composers’ new works to life (Ears Open society, Creative Dialogue 2014 Santa Fé, the enoa network / Helsinki Festival 2016).
In June 2018, Meeri Pulakka graduated as Master of Music (with distinction) at the Sibelius Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki, focusing on Lied and Oratorio singing. In fall 2017, she finished her Master of Arts degree in opera singing (with distinction) at the Universität für Musik and darstellende Kunst in Vienna.
Barokkanerne
Barokkanerne is a period instrument ensemble based in Oslo. Founded in 1989, the orchestra celebrated its 25th anniversary last season with the release of the CD Totally Telemann – Music for Orchestra on the LAWO Classics label. On this CD, the orchestra is directed by Kati Debretzeni, the highly acclaimed concertmaster of Sir John Elliot Gardiner’s orchestra who also appears as soloist along with Baroque oboe virtuoso Alfredo Bernardini and other members of the group.
Since 2007, Barokkanerne has performed its own highly successful concert series in Oslo, with a number of outstanding international performers as guest leaders and soloists in addition to Bernardini and Debretzeni, among them Rachel Podger, Matthew Truscott, Emma Kirkby, David Hansen, Ketil Haugsand and Rolf Lislevand. These collaborations have spurred diversity, flexibility and an exciting dynamic much appreciated by both the players in the ensemble and its audience.
Finnish Baroque Orchestra
Founded in 1989, the Finnish Baroque Orchestra has consolidated its position within the Finnish orchestral scene. Since its inception, FiBO has collaborated with some of the foremost soloists and concertmasters of the age and performed a wide-ranging repertoire. The focus is generally on Baroque music, but the orchestra often explores works from other periods too, from early Baroque to early Romanticism. FiBO also plays contemporary music composed for period instruments, and has even commissioned several works itself. The musicians of the core ensemble often perform as chamber musicians. In its largest manifestations the orchestra can be heard playing symphony-orchestra repertoire and in opera performances.